The Duelist
by Zanza8
Summary: Sequel to radio episode Cavalcade. A mysterious stranger comes to town and Festus learns who Doc really is and why he has such a special relationship with Kitty.
1. Chapter 1

Doc frowned down at the table, deep in thought. This was bad-maybe the worst he'd ever seen. If he made a mistake now it would all be over. He took a deep breath...

"Golly bill, Doc, ain't you never gonna move?"

The old man was concentrating so hard he jumped as Festus spoke. "It so happens I was about to do just that!" He studied the board and shook his head. "Who's been teaching you to play checkers anyway?"

"Why, you ornery old scutter, we been playin' checkers for more'n four years!"

"I've been playing. You've been learning." Doc shook his head and touched a piece, then moved another.

"Doc, you cain't do that!"

"Can't do what?"

"Make two moves in one turn."

"I only moved one piece!"

"But you touched two pieces. Once you touch a piece that's yore move."

"Oh, for Heaven's sake..." The old man moved the piece back. "There, are you happy?"

Festus shook his head. "I just cain't make out how you don't sweeten up none. 'Pears to me with all the money you got..."

"Money!"

The deputy rolled along. "...and how you ain't got hardly nothin' to do..."

"I do more in one day than you've done in your whole life!"

"...you'd be a mite less touchy, but no, yore alwuz like a bear with a toothache."

Festus moved and Doc leaned forward. He ran his hand over his face and threw up his hands. "I give up."

The deputy was startled. "You mean I win?"

"Yes, you win! And you'd better make the most of it, because it'll never happen again, mark my words." The old man got up and poured a cup of coffee, then sat back down at the table. "When's Matt getting back?"

Festus shrugged. "He's liable to be gone a spell. He tolt me after he got done in Hays he wuz goin' to take a few days and go fishin'."

Doc ran his hand over his face. "Well, I hope he gets back soon."

The deputy looked hurt. "Meanin' what?"

The old man realized what he had said and his exasperation with himself made him speak more sharply than he intended. "Meaning you do a good job but I'll be glad when Matt's back! Now don't go making a mountain out of a molehill."

Festus forced a smile. "Well, I'd best be makin' my rounds, Doc."

Doc sighed. "Have you ever been worried and you don't know why?"

"Reckon I have."

"That's how I feel tonight. I can't explain it, Festus."

The deputy's face warmed. "Yore prob'ly just tuckered out. C'mon, I'll walk you back to your office."

"I suppose that couldn't do too much harm," said Doc ungraciously, but he smiled back as they left the jail together.


	2. Chapter 2

They walked down the street in companionable silence and had almost reached Doc's office when a stranger accosted them. He was in his early fifties, with light hair and blue eyes and dressed with an elegance that would have made him stand out in any city, let alone Dodge. He watched them walk past, then spoke sharply. "Calvin Moore!"

Doc stopped short, then turned slowly. "Do I know you?"

The man smiled wolfishly. "It's been so long since you've seen me, perhaps I should re-introduce myself. My name is Andrew Beauregard." He paused, his eyes glittering. "As in Roger Beauregard's brother."

The hostility from the man was almost palpable and Festus moved forward to put himself between his friend and the stranger. "Doc?"

Doc spoke with studied casualness. "Festus, I need to talk to this man. You go finish your rounds." The deputy didn't move and Doc said harshly, "Go on! This is my own private affair and I don't want you mixed up in it!"

Festus said calmly, "I ain't goin' nowhere, Doc. You might just as well make up yore mind to that and get on with your bizness."

Doc glared, then seeing the concern in his friend's face he lowered his voice and said pleadingly, "Festus, I'll be all right. Will you please go?" The deputy just stood there and Doc looked helplessly at Beauregard.

The man said, "If your friend wants to stay so much, let him." He was holding a single glove in his hand and now he stepped forward and struck Doc across the face with it. The deputy's eyes flashed and he lunged at Beauregard. Doc grabbed him and Beauregard whipped out a gun and hit Festus over the head, dropping him dazed and bleeding at Doc's feet.

The old man knelt beside his friend and Beauregard said coldly, "Tomorrow, Moore. I want to see you at eight o'clock down by the river tomorrow."

Doc looked up. "I won't be there."

"You'll be there or your friend will have worse than a headache." He considered Doc. "You've been here for a long time, Moore. I'll bet you've got lots of friends by now. You don't want anybody else hurt, do you? The river. Eight o'clock, tomorrow." He turned on his heel and walked off and Doc turned his attention back to Festus. The deputy got shakily to his feet and the old man took his arm to steady him.

"Doc, who wuz that crazy man and why wuz he callin' you Moore?"

Doc looked at the gash on his friend's head and said, "That's going to need some stitches. Come on up to the office."

Festus shook him off. "I ain't goin' noplace 'til I know what's goin' on!" The old man hesitated and Festus asked anxiously, "Cain't you tell me nothin' a'tall?"

Doc nodded wearily. "I'll tell you, Festus, but not here in the street. Come on up to the office and let me take care of your head, and I'll tell you all about it."


	3. Chapter 3

_Life was full of promise for Calvin Moore that hot day in June. He had graduated from medical school with full honors; he was planning to return to Baltimore and go into practice with his mentor Dr. Eldred Hudkins; and Maggie, his beautiful Maggie, had agreed to marry him. Calvin still couldn't believe that she had chosen him over Roger Beauregard, one of the wealthiest planters in Virginia. He rode towards Richmond speechless with happiness. _

_ "Calvin Moore!" _

_ The young man pulled up his horse. Roger Beauregard was waiting by the bridge with two of his friends, Arthur Cantrell and Brett Jackson. Calvin scowled. Beauregard was a handsome devil, there was no denying that. He was very tall, well over six feet, with chiseled features, glossy light hair and piercing blue eyes. He came from old money and was considered very charming. Calvin knew he was also insufferably conceited and small-minded and when he had been drinking he was cruel. His friends were much like him, lacking only his money to indulge their vices as thoroughly as he did. Calvin nudged his horse into a walk and started past them. _

_ Beauregard caught his rein. "I heard you're engaged." _

_ "I am." _

_ "Not to Maggie Thorn." _

_ "No?" Calvin raised his brows in mock astonishment and said coolly, "She'll be surprised to hear that, seeing how she's planning to be at the church on Sunday for the express purpose of becoming my wife." _

_ Beauregard's face flushed. He was a good horseman and an excellent shot, but he had no more education than one of his dogs and he suspected Calvin was making fun of him. His friends seemed to think so too. They started to laugh and Beauregard's temper flared. "Get down off that horse!" _

_ Calvin looked at him disdainfully. "Get out of my way." He reached for his rein and Beauregard grabbed him and pulled him down. Calvin shoved him furiously. "Beauregard, I've met a lot of people in my time and you're not one of them! I never saw anyone who needs taking down as much as you!" _

_ Beauregard grinned evilly. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Moore." He walked over to his friends and returned with two pistols. _

_ Calvin's face turned white but he stood his ground and snarled, "So now you plan to commit cold-blooded murder?" He looked at Beauregard's friends and shouted, "I hope they hang all three of you together!" _

_ Beauregard shook his head. Stepping up to Calvin, he shoved one of the pistols in his waistband. "This isn't a murder. I demand satisfaction." _

_ Calvin's eyes narrowed. "Satisfaction for what?" _

_ "For your shameless seduction of the woman I love." _

_ "Maggie?" Calvin couldn't help himself. He started to laugh and Beauregard backhanded him, bringing a trickle of blood to his lips. The young man wiped it away and eyed Beauregard with scorn. "Maggie barely knows you're alive. She wouldn't have you if you were the last man on earth." _

_ "She may change her mind once you're dead," said Beauregard viciously. The man was in earnest and beckoned to one of his friends. "Cantrell will act as your second." _

_ "I'm not fighting you!" _

_ "Then I'll kill you and take my chances." Beauregard looked at his friends and grinned. "Actually, I wouldn't be taking that much of a chance, would I?" They laughed and shook their heads and Calvin realized that his only hope of safety lay in going through with the duel. _

_ "All right, let's get it over with," said the young man coldly._


	4. Chapter 4

Doc finished cleaning the wound in Festus' scalp and got out his sutures. "Hold still now. This is going to hurt." The deputy winced as Doc began to stitch him up, but the story the old man had to tell was more painful still.


	5. Chapter 5

_Beauregard was a fine shot, but that day he met his match. He was left dead on the field of honor and by that night Calvin was a fugitive from the law. A Yankee and an outsider, he had no hope of justice in Virginia and he fled for his life without even being able to say goodbye to Maggie. His heart was heavy that night in St Louis when a knock came at the door of his cheap hotel room. Cocking the pistol he was never without now, he stood to one side of the door and asked roughly, "Who is it?" _

_ "Calvin?" _

_ For a moment his head swam, then he tossed the pistol on the bed and opened the door. "Maggie!"_


	6. Chapter 6

Doc inserted a final stitch and bandaged the deputy's head, then sat down with a hand over his eyes. "We had two months together before she died of typhus." To someone who didn't know him as well as Festus, his voice would have seemed without feeling, but the deputy could hear the agony beneath the flat tone and his eyes filled with tears for his old friend.


	7. Chapter 7

_The next fifteen years were a blur. Town after town, drifting aimlessly west, stopping sometimes for a few days and sometimes as long as a year until the day he reached Dodge City, Kansas. He got off the stage and went into the only restaurant in town, Delmonico's, and that's where he saw her. She was very young and very pretty, with a milky complexion and gleaming red hair, and she was arguing with a cowboy. _

_ "Billy Madison, I've told you a dozen times if you want to talk to me you can buy me a drink at the Longbranch! Right now I'm on my own time and I want to eat my breakfast in peace." _

_ "Oh, come on, Kitty." The man put his hand on her shoulder and she knocked it away. He laughed and touched her again and Calvin walked over to the table. _

_ "Kathleen, when you invited me for breakfast I thought it would be just the two of us." She turned startled eyes on him and his heart skipped a beat. They were like Maggie's eyes, big and blue and shining. He pulled himself together and coolly kissed her cheek. "I should think after all these years, you could have one meal with your father without including your beau." _

_ She was quick. "Dad, I didn't invite him and he's certainly not my beau." She looked sternly at the cowboy, who now appeared sheepish. _

_ "I'm sorry, Kitty. I didn't know this was a reunion." He touched his hat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr..." _

_ In that moment Calvin Moore realized that he finally wanted to put his past behind him, and he smiled and stuck out his hand. "It's doctor, young man. Dr Galen Adams."_


	8. Chapter 8

"How did you happen to come up with the name Galen Adams?" asked Festus curiously.

Doc had dug out a bottle of whiskey and poured drinks for himself and the deputy and now he smiled bleakly. "Well, I thought Adams was appropriate for a man starting a new life and Dr Hudkins...he was a friend of my father's and he paid for my medical schooling...he was a great admirer of Dr. Claudius Galen, a famous healer eight hundred years ago..." The old man stopped and ran his hand over his face and his voice dropped. "I guess I just wanted to hold onto one last shred of my old life."

"And Miss Kitty looks like yore lost Maggie?"

Doc's eyes were wet. "She couldn't be more like Maggie if she was her own daughter.


	9. Chapter 9

_The cowboy took himself off and Adams bowed to the girl. "Have a pleasant day, young lady." _

_ She caught his arm and looked up at him and again he felt an odd jerk in his chest. "Won't you join me? Please?" _

_ He sat down slowly and a waiter rushed over with a menu. "Just coffee." _

_ The man departed and the girl asked, "How on earth did you know?" _

_ "Know what?" _

_ "That my name is Kathleen?" _

_ He was startled. "Well, that's just a coincidence. It's the first name that came into my head," he lied. He and Maggie had always planned to name their first daughter Kathleen. The workings of fate... _

_ "Everybody calls me Kitty." She offered her hand and he took it and put it gallantly to his lips. "Kitty Russell." _

_ "And I'm..." _

_ "Yes, I know. Dr Galen Adams. A real doctor?" _

_ "As real as you want." _

_ "This town could use a doctor. There isn't one for a hundred miles." She studied him. "I don't suppose you're planning on staying." _

_ He smiled. "To tell you the truth, Miss Russell, I think that Dodge City is going to be just what the doctor ordered." _


	10. Chapter 10

Doc poured himself another drink. "Matt knows about this. About ten years ago a sheriff from Virginia showed up with a warrant for my arrest. Matt took care of that...I told him some of it then." He drained the glass. "I never told him about Kitty. Never told anyone..." His voice broke and Festus went to him and took the whiskey bottle. The old man looked up at the deputy and saw his pain reflected in those soft hazel eyes and suddenly he couldn't hold back anymore. He caught his friend's shirt and buried his face in it, weeping. Festus held him tightly, his head bent as their tears mingled, and Doc finally pulled away. His eyes were full of the shame of a man who has lost control of himself in front of another man.

Festus sensed the old man's embarrassment and busied himself with the coffeepot. "You want some coffee?"

Doc sniffed. "Your coffee could take off a tattoo."

The deputy turned and looked at his friend. The old man's eyes were very red and Festus said quietly, "Yore the orneriest old scutter that I have ever saw. If'n you don't want some good Haggen style coffee I'll be on my way." He set his hat gingerly on his head and reached for the doorknob.

Doc caught his friend's arm. "Festus, wait a minute. What are you going to do about Beauregard?"

The deputy's eyes went dark. "Don't you fret none 'bout him. I'll take care of him."

Doc bit his lip. Matt first met Festus when he was tracking his uncle, Black Jack Haggen, for killing his twin brother Fergus. Festus had intended to kill Jack, but when Matt came along they teamed up to bring him in. Matt had kept Festus from breaking the law then, but it had been a different story when his cousin came to town. Mayblossom Haggen had been a sweet and pretty girl who endeared herself to Doc and Matt, and they competed for her attention like two uncles with a favorite niece. Then she was raped by a man with a grudge against Festus, and although she recovered from the attack Festus ambushed the man and killed him. For all the deputy's kindness and gentleness, there was something wild and fierce in his nature and he was still capable of cold-blooded murder in defense of the people he loved. Doc dreaded the thought of his friend catching up with Beauregard.

"Festus, I'd rather you stayed here tonight. That's a nasty cut on your head and I'd like to keep an eye on you. Besides, you don't need to look for Beauregard. You heard him. He'll be at the river tomorrow at eight o'clock. You can get him then. If you go now, by morning the whole town will know about it."

The deputy asked suspiciously, "You ain't gonna try'n stop me tomorrow?"

"No." Doc dropped into a chair and put his hand over his eyes. "No, I want it over with. I just don't want everybody to know about it."

Festus took off his hat and touched the bandage, grimacing. "Well, I reckon lettin' the cat out of the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in. I'll wait 'til tomorrow, Doc. But only 'til tomorrow."

The old man was relieved. "That's just what I was hoping you would say."


	11. Chapter 11

In the morning Doc changed the bandage and nodded approvingly. "It's a good thing your head is so hard. You're just about back to what passes for normal for you."

"Then can I go now?"

Doc sighed. "Have some coffee first."

He passed Festus a cup and the deputy took a swig and made a face. "Golly bill, Doc, you been hoorawing me 'bout my coffee all this time and you cain't make it no better'n that?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it! It's all bitter like."

"Well, put some sugar in it!" Festus spooned sugar into the cup, tasted, added some more and tried it again. He finally drank it with a martyred expression and started to get up. Doc leaned forward as the deputy sat back down heavily and rubbed his eyes. "Festus? What's wrong?"

Festus gazed blearily at the old man. "I don't know. My head just went all swimmy." He swayed and looked at the cup and his eyes widened. "Doc?" He started to fall and the old man caught him and lowered him to the floor. Festus struggled to hold onto consciousness. "Doc, you cain't do this," he whispered, clutching his friend's hand. "You cain't...Doc?..." His eyes closed and he was out.

Doc went into the bedroom and returned with a pillow. He lifted the deputy's head and pushed the pillow under it, then checked his pulse. For a long moment he lingered by his friend. Then he got to his feet and left, locking the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Beauregard observed the little black buggy driving along the river and checked his watch. Almost eight o'clock. One thing he'd have to give Moore, he was punctual. Probably learned it in medical school. Well, it would all be over soon and Beauregard would be on his way home. The buggy pulled up and he saw Moore was indeed driving it and he was alone. The old man climbed down stiffly and Beauregard asked, "Where's your friend?"

Doc's eyes narrowed. "He stayed behind. This is between you and me."

"Yellow, most likely," sneered the other man.

Doc's jaw muscles worked. He knew Beauregard was trying to rattle him and he couldn't let that happen. He took a step closer to the other man and said evenly, "You're just as mean and stupid as your brother ever was, aren't you?"

Beauregard's face flushed and he snapped, "My brother was the finest man who ever walked the earth!"

Doc said coolly, "He was a coward and a bully. I can't imagine why you would bother me after all these years for someone so worthless."

Beauregard clenched his fists. "Moore, if you were a younger man I'd beat you to death for that. Do you know what happened after you murdered him? It killed my mother...she died of a broken heart. My father buried her and then he shot himself." His eyes shone with rage and hate. "I was ten years old! I had to leave my home and live with relatives I barely knew!"

Doc felt a pang of sympathy. "I didn't want to kill your brother. He forced me into it and it wasn't murder, it was self-defense."

"Self-defense!" Beauregard's voice dripped with contempt and the old man's sympathy died. "What makes you think your life mattered compared to my brother?"

Doc shook his head sadly. "If you can ask a question like that I don't think there's anyone who could ever answer it to your satisfaction." He turned to climb back into his buggy.

"Not so fast, Moore. I didn't come here to confront you with what you've done." Beauregard opened his coat and displayed two pistols in his waistband.

"I might have known." Doc looked disgusted. "Have you wasted your whole life looking for me?"

Beauregard smiled. "Don't flatter yourself. I inherited one of the richest tobacco plantations in Virginia from my father and I've built it up to ten times the size it was under him. I haven't been looking for you, Moore." His smile widened. "You might say it was Providence that led me to you. Just a rumor that I happened to hear and decided to check out. And here we are."

Doc said softly, "You can't win, Beauregard. If you kill me, my friend will hunt you down no matter where you go."

"He'll have a hard time finding me in Richmond."

"Festus won't let that stop him. You could go around the world and he'll still get you in the end."

"And hang for it. I doubt he'd take the chance."

Doc ran his hand over his face. It was as if the last forty-two years had melted away and he was back facing Roger Beauregard. Once again the only chance of saving his life and protecting someone he loved was with a gun. Beauregard held one of the pistols out and Doc took it and checked it carefully, then shoved it in his waistband. Beauregard turned and took a few steps away, then faced the old man. They stared at each other and Beauregard said, "I'll count to ten." Doc nodded and the other man began to count. "One, two..."

_Doc felt sick as he confronted his choices. If he killed Beauregard he would be guilty of murder._

"Three, four..."

_It would all come out-his true name, his past history, everything. He might even be extradited back to Virginia._

"Five, six..."

_If it wasn't for Matt and Kitty and Festus, he could just let the man kill him and be done with it. There had been a time after Maggie when he wanted to die, but that was long past. Now he wanted to live. _

"Seven, eight..."

_And if Beauregard killed him, what would happen to Festus? Matt and Kitty had each other. They would survive. But the deputy would not just grieve. He would go after this man and kill him if it meant his own life._

"Nine..."

_Doc gritted his teeth. He had been proud of his marksmanship a lifetime ago. If he could just pull off one more good shot..._

"Ten."

The two men drew their guns and fired.


	13. Chapter 13

Festus slowly opened his eyes to pitch darkness and struggled to think past the confusion in his aching head. The last thing he remembered was drinking coffee this morning with Doc. He sat up abruptly. "Doc!"

A door opened. "Take it easy, Festus. I'm right here." The soothing tones of his old friend sounded like music in the deputy's ears and he relaxed back against the pillows.

"Where am I, Doc?"

"My spare bed. You've been asleep all day."

Doc lit the lamp and Festus sat up again, glaring. "You put somethin' in that coffee, didn' you?"

"Yes, I did. I couldn't have you following me."

"So you thought you'd go off all by your lonesome and face up to that feller..." The deputy's eyes grew alarmed. "Where is that feller?"

"Well, it seems that a stranger was found by the river. Shot dead, stripped of money, jewelry, identification..." The old man's voice was bland but his eyes were tortured. Festus reached out and touched his friend's arm, and for the first and only time in his life Doc didn't pull away.

"You took a awful chance goin' alone, Doc. He might'a killed you."

Doc covered Festus' hand with his own and blinked away his tears. "No, Festus, there wasn't much chance of that. Too much was riding on me coming back."


	14. Chapter 14

Matt strolled into the Longbranch and over to Kitty. Her face lit up and she asked, "What'll you have?"

"Lunch with you at Delmonico's."

She smiled. "Give me a minute..."

Burke ran into the saloon. "Marshal, come quick!"

"What is it?"

"Doc and Festus!"

Burke ran out and Matt followed him, Kitty right behind them. They hurried down the street and stopped in amazement. Doc and Festus had set up iron stakes and were throwing horseshoes.

"No, Doc, not like that! Ain't you never seen a horseshoe before?"

"I don't usually look at the bottom of horse's feet."

"I don't mean on their feet, you ornery old scutter! I mean..."

Matt sighed and said to Burke, "I think they're all right." He and Kitty started back towards Delmonico's and Burke called, "I was just worried when I saw them throwing those heavy shoes, marshal."

Kitty laughed. "He could be right, you know. What if they start pitching them at each other?"

Matt grinned. "That's a chance I'm willing to take until after lunch." They passed the telegraph office and he said, "Wait a minute, Kitty. I need to check on something." He went inside for a minute and came out with a few slips of paper.

"What is it, Matt?"

"Oh, I just thought I'd send out a notice about that stranger that was found down by the river. You never know when something might turn up."

"Any news?"

"I'm afraid not. Of course, I didn't have much to go on, seeing how he'd been robbed of all his personal belongings and buried for a week by the time I got back."

Kitty shrugged. "You know how that goes. I suppose he was just some drifter who flashed his money in the wrong place."

"Yeah. Say, I hear that Festus beat Doc at checkers."

Kitty chuckled. "Doc will never live it down. Maybe that's why he's trying horseshoes. If he could beat Festus at that he'd really have something to hold over him." They turned and looked up the street at the two men. Festus had taken Doc's arm to show him how to hold the horseshoe and was getting his hand slapped.

"You blamed old grumphead!"

"I know how to hold a horseshoe!"

"My grandpa Hawg Haggen could hold a horseshoe better'n that after he'd been dead for three days!"

Matt looked at Kitty. "Do you think I should break that up?"

She took his arm. "Not on your life. They'll never admit it, but you know as well as I do that those two are the best of friends."


End file.
